Mayor Cook meets with local Seniors'

On September 10th, Mayor Cook with City Staff met with the WL & District Seniors' Advisory Council, with regard to the Cariboo Lodge/Heritage House site issue

A local website has the story on the meeting here

But there were a couple of quotes that I'd like to address:

1) We need choices in Williams Lake,” she (Audrey MacLise) continued. “That property (Cariboo Lodge) was given to seniors years ago and it shouldn’t be chipped away at and given to other groups: it’s ours.”

While I agree that seniors' should have a strong say around the future of Cariboo Lodge/Heritage House, I'd caution Ms. MacLise around the fact that seniors' "own" Cariboo Lodge, this property belongs to all taxpayers' of Williams Lake and everyone, including seniors', should get a say into the future of this site. As Mayor Cook has already stated, the City on its' own cannot afford to turn the site into affordable housing or even housing options for seniors', it will require a partnership, either with BC Housing or some other non-profit senior housing group, perhaps even with the group that built Glen Arbour. But sounding childish doesn't help her cause any, so staying away from childish comments would advance her cause much more greatly

2) “I’d like to see the City and the CRD take some leadership and see that seniors are a part of the decision process, stated George Atamenenko"

I wholeheartledly agree with Mr. Atamenenko and the sooner this is done, the better. I believe a "Seniors' Town Hall" meeting with WL City Council, the Area 'D', Area 'E' and Area 'F' Directors and CRD/City of WL Staff along with interested seniors' should be held on the future of Cariboo Lodge/Heritage House ASAP